The present invention relates to valve repair and in particular to apparatus and methods for extending the life of an automatic transmission valve by modifying the valve to shift a valve piston from a worn region of a valve sleeve to an unworn region of the valve sleeve.
Automatic transmissions are commonly used in cars and trucks. Such automatic transmissions rely on a pump and system of valves to route a fluid flow to selectively lock and unlock gears to control the overall gear ratio through the transmission. The valves wear over time and eventually fail requiring service. The cost of replacing entire valve bodies can be quite high, and as a result, methods for repairing existing valve bodies have been developed.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,832,632 for “Boost Valve Assembly,” discloses a direct replacement booster valve assembly to replace a worn booster valve. The replacement valve of the '632 patent includes a new hard-anodized booster valve piston and a new aluminum booster valve sleeve. While the repair method of the '632 patent is a solution to the problem of valve wear, the parts are fairly expensive and therefore a need remains for a low cost solution to automatic transmission valve wear. The '632 patent is herein incorporated in its entirety by reference.